The present invention relates to a high-mounted stoplight for a motor vehicle, and particularly to a high-mounted stoplight centered inside the rear window thereof.
A conventional high-mounted stoplight of this kind is disposed over the baggage shelf inside the rear window 1 of the automobile, as shown in FIG. 13. The body 2 of the stoplight comprises a main part 4 housing a bulb 3, and a body cover 5 for protecting the main part. A front lens 6 is attached to the body 2 of the stoplight and covers the front opening of the body. The front lens 6 faces the rear window 1 of the motor vehicle. When the driver of the vehicle has depressed the brake pedal thereof, the stoplight is turned on to call the attention of the driver of a following vehicle or the like. However, since there is a gap between the front lens 6 of the stoplight and the rear window 1 of the motor vehicle, some of the light emitted from the stoplight is reflected by the rear window and proceeds toward the front of the vehicle. The reflected light is likely to be further reflected by the rearview mirror 7 of the vehicle to interfere with the driver's vision.
In order to solve this problem, a protector 8 made of rubber is interposed between the front lens 6 of the stoplight and the rear window 1 of the motor vehicle so that the protector surrounds the lens, as shown in FIG. 14. As a result, light reflected by the rear window 1 is blocked by the protector 8 so as not to proceed forward to the rearview mirror 7 of the vehicle.
However, the conventional high-mounted stoplight shown in FIG. 14 has problems in that the number of components of the stoplight is increased to make the stoplight more expensive. It is difficult to completely block the light using the protector 8, because the protector may be deformed, or displaced due to the vibration of the motor vehicle to cause a gap between the protector and the rear window which will leak light. Since the protector 8 is not colored but black to avoid reducing the durability of the rubber, the appearance of the protector does not harmonize with the trim of the vehicle interior and the color of the body cover 5 of the stoplight.